Glossary
Aethylen
Old spelling for ethylene
Alarm and emergency response plan
The alarm and emergency response plan serves to contain and control incidents so that consequences can be minimised and damage to people, the environment and property can be limited or contained. It also serves to regulate information flows and measures for dealing with extraordinary events and for averting or limiting the resulting effects on people, the environment and property.
ARG
ARG mbH & Co. KG; formerly Aethylen-Rohrleitungs-Gesellschaft GmbH & Co. KG
ARA area
Greater Antwerp/Rotterdam/Amsterdam area, particularly in relation to port activity
BImSchG (Bundesimmissionsschutzgesetz)
Abbreviation for the Federal Immission Control Act, which regulates and controls environmentally harmful influences such as air, water and noise pollution within the framework of environmental law.
common carrier
‘Common carrier’ means that every potential ethylene consumer and every potential ethylene producer can have ethylene transported within the existing pipeline capacity, whereby general transport conditions with published tariffs apply to standardised ethylene quality.
Cracking
The splitting of hydrocarbon molecules at temperatures above 800° Celsius.
Derivatives
High-quality processed products made from petroleum.
Transmission tariff / Transmission tariff system / Transmission fees
A fixed tariff system that regulates the transmission fees for all connected parties/feeders. The ARG transmission tariff consists of a fixed element (basic rate) and a variable (distance-dependent) element (pipelining rate).
Emission
Release of gaseous, liquid or solid substances
EPS
Ethylene Pipeline South (EPS); pipeline from Ludwigshafen to the Bavarian chemical industry
Natural gas
Collective term for combustible natural gases consisting mainly of methane, with other components including ethane, propane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide; mainly used as a fuel.
Petroleum
A naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons of varying composition and molecular size.
Ethan
Chemical formula C2H6, after methane, the second most common atmospheric trace gas from the hydrocarbon group.
Ethylene
Also known as ethene, ethene, ethene: Ethylene is a simple, highly reactive hydrocarbon with two carbon atoms; it is used in petrochemicals to produce polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), among other things; it is a colourless gas with a faintly sweet odour that is lighter than air under normal conditions. Chemically, ethylene consists of two carbon atoms and four hydrogen atoms. Ethylene boils at -104°C and 1 bar; this means that ethylene is always in a gaseous state at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures between -30°C and +30°C.
Ethylene pipeline
The pipeline was commissioned in 1976, meets all current technical safety requirements and corresponds to the state of the art. It is regularly inspected on foot and by air (airborne inspection).
Fluid
Fluid, common term for the non-condensed states of matter ‘gaseous’ (gas) and ‘liquid’ (liquid physics)
Gas
A state of matter in which the individual molecules are relatively free to move.
Gaseous
The different states of a substance that can be converted into one another by mere changes in temperature or pressure are referred to as states of aggregation. There are three classic states of aggregation: solid, liquid and gaseous.
Immission
Emissions that affect the biosphere (humans, animals, plants, soil, water).
Infrastructure
All basic facilities of a personal, material or institutional nature that are necessary to ensure the functioning of an economy. Colloquially, the term is often equated with transport links (land, water, rail, air), but can also refer, for example, to energy or raw material pipelines or telecommunications requirements at a location.
Joint venture
A joint undertaking by two otherwise independent companies, e.g. through a subsidiary, with the aim of profitably utilising knowledge and skills.
Cathodic corrosion protection (CCP)
Cathodic corrosion protection (CCP) is an active system for preventing corrosion on pipes. It works by using a direct current source (with low currents) to prevent the electrochemical processes of rusting on a pipe. This system is used worldwide in pipeline construction, on ships, in port facilities and generally on components in humid atmospheres. KKS also enables the precise location of any defects in the insulation of pipes.
(LEOS) Leak detection and location system
This system is used to monitor pipelines, tank farms and chemical plants and detect leaks/faults at an early stage. Various measurement and location techniques are used to determine the position of the leak as accurately as possible.
Pig
A pig is a mobile operating and monitoring device for use inside a pipeline and is primarily used to clean the pipeline, seal it during repairs and check it for corrosion and cracks.
Pigging
Pigging is a precise examination of the condition of a pipe from the inside using a ‘mobile mini-laboratory’ that travels through the entire length of the pipe. The device collects a wealth of data for precise analysis of the pipe wall. The measured values are used to calculate the wall thickness at each point, identify any defects such as localised corrosion in the material, and take appropriate measures.
Naphtha
This is an untreated petroleum distillate used as a raw material in the petrochemical industry (raw benzine).
Above ground
Technical term: The pipe lying on the surface of the earth.
Petrochemical
Petrochemical (also petroleum chemistry; from Greek petros = rock and Latin oleum = oil) refers to the manufacture of chemical products from natural gas and suitable fractions of crude oil.
Pipeline
A pipe used to transport liquids or gases over short or long distances.
Polymers
Chemical compounds consisting of identical or similar low-molecular-weight building blocks (monomers)
Polyvinyl chloride
Abbreviation PVC: Thermoplastic material produced from vinyl chloride through polymerisation.
Propylene
This is a gaseous hydrocarbon from the alkene group.
Refinery
Processing plant in which crude oil is converted into marketable petroleum products.
Resources
Resources (means) include capital, real estate, personnel and operating materials. The quantity of a resource is always limited, i.e. finite, even if it is available in very large quantities.
Raw gasoline
Untreated petroleum distillate used as a raw material in the petrochemical industry (naphtha).
ROV (spatial planning procedure)
Interdisciplinary coordination procedure for projects with supra-local spatial significance. In principle, it involves weighing up the needs of people and the environment against the advantages and risks of the project in question and deriving specifications for the project from this; the aim is to balance interests at local level.
Service provider
Technical service provider for ARG mbH & Co. KG: Petrochemical Pipeline Services B.V. (PPS) and Evonik Technology & Infrastructure GmbH.
Steam cracking (also olefin cracker)
Steam cracking process (see also cracking); used in petrochemistry primarily for the production of unsaturated gases (e.g. ethylene). In steam cracking, chemical raw materials are obtained from mineral oil products with the addition of steam.
Route
‘Abstract’ guidance of roads, railway lines, etc. The routes of supply and disposal lines are also referred to as routes.
Route alignment (pipeline route)
This refers to the area required for laying a pipeline system. It describes the design and determination of the alignment of a land transport route in terms of its position, height and cross-section.
Supercritical
Above the so-called critical pressure or critical temperature, substances take on special properties that are neither typical of gases nor typical of liquids. In Anglo-Saxon usage, ‘supercritical’ is referred to as ‘dense phase’. In the pipeline, ethylene is in the gas phase, with the density of the gas closer to that of the liquid.